Friday, December 20, 2013

Merry Christmas, Pt. II

Yeah, something tells me I'm not going to get around to finishing this list, as my lazy ass will be languishing on a beach this time tomorrow in the FLA with no international data plan.

So, I'm gonna go real fast and just blitz you with all the goodies.

Bing Crosby, White Christmas





The Pogues, Fairytale of New York





Belle and Sebastian, Oh Come Oh Come Emmanuel





Kelly Clarkson, My Grown Up Christmas List




Alright that's all I can think of for now. See you suckers Happy Holidays!

Saturday, December 14, 2013

Merry Christmas Pt. I

Man I love Christmas. Seriously. Lights? Music? Cookies? Trees? People being unilaterally nice to each other? Cards? Stockings? Love it. I'm making the Gareth Bale heart symbol right now. I'm listening to O Holy Night by as many different singers as I can. It's great. Anyone who knows me can vouch to how true this is. Vouchers?

So here are my favourite Christmas Carols of all time in no order.

O Holy Night

In particular the Celine Dion version. There are a lot of things that I don't like about Celine, but man she does pomp and excess really well. But that's not what I love about her version.
The trick, the whole song hinges on that high note. But not just being able to hit (or, in Mariah's case, exceed) it: you have to believe in it. Your belief in that note is, in a way, the physical manifestation of your belief in ole JC himself (note: I'm not a hugely religious person-however I do understand the importance of faith in people's lives and I am NOT here to belittle that fact) and will or will not resonate with the listener depending. And in this instance, Celine was f*cking MOVED BY THE SPIRIT Y'ALL.




All I Want For Christmas Is You

The Mimi version *dodges rocks thrown by Darlene Love purists*
Make no mistake: I love Mariah Carey. Man I have had a huge crush on her since I was like 12. But she meets some very specific criteria for me for what constitutes a classic carol.
First, the song must have some inherent sadness to it, either in the lyrical content or the melody. This song has both (no credit to her.) Second, the song must also be uplifting in a way (note: I find this requires a subtle undertone of false hope: see also White Christmas, Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas, I'll Be Home For Christmas, etc.)-check. Third (and least crucial, though often the tipping point) it helps if the singer has a personal life that mirrors the tone of the song. Mimi's personal life was, well, kind of a clusterf*ck there for a while. When she sings this song, I don't get the impression that she's just going through the motions. I still get the feeling that her absolute mess of a marriage to Tommy Mottola still informs her reading of this one. I'm not saying her version is better, I'm just saying it's my favourite.

But it IS better.

And this version is just fun.